Big tax loss
Bankrupt companies have cost Sturgeon County nearly $1 million in lost taxes this year.
County council voted Nov. 26 to write off $956,215.08 in taxes it could not collect, and to use $734,836.49 in reserves to cover the losses.
Council heard the taxes were related to 10 companies that had filed for bankruptcy in recent years. Two of those went under this year and accounted for some 83 per cent of the lost taxes.
County chief financial officer Ed Kaemingh said in an email he could not name these companies, as doing so could harm the county’s ongoing attempt to collect cash from them.
Senior accountant Madisyn Gabriel told council these companies were unlikely to have the cash available to pay these taxes once they paid off debts and environmental costs owed to secured creditors (municipalities are unsecured creditors).
The 10 companies operated some 64 taxpaying properties related to oil, linear or industrial development. One of those linear developments accounted for around 51 per cent of the lost taxes.
This year’s tax loss was 8.5 times more than what the county had lost in the last two years combined. Council heard administration had set aside $48,000 to cover lost taxes this year, and would up that to $225,000 in 2020 based on economic trends.
Gabriel said the county could qualify for up to $183,421.34 credit from the province for uncollected education taxes based on this year’s loss.
Mayor Alanna Hnatiw said the province has to take more steps to prevent these mass bankruptcies, say by better scrutinizing well operators that apply for development permits to catch those who repeatedly drill, go bankrupt and reopen under a new name.
“We’re out about a million dollars, and that is a tremendous hit for us, but there are municipalities that are out tens of millions,” she said, and those communities will not be sustainable unless the province changes its regulations.
Utility monopoly?
County council is debating a law that could give it a monopoly over any utility service the county provides.
Council approved second reading of the proposed master utility services bylaw Nov. 26. The law, if approved, would prohibit anyone from providing or connecting to any utility service that is the same as one offered by the county or one of its subsidiaries without authorization.
The proposed law is similar to one St. Albert passed in August to support its proposed municipal utility corporation.
When asked if the county also plans to set up such a company, Hnatiw said, “Not necessarily.” There are a lot of changes happening locally and nationally around green energy and waste management, however, and the county should think about offering services regionally as a way to make money.
“We’re just positioning ourselves so that if there are any changes, we are at the table.”
County utility and waste management services manger Jeff Yanew told council this law would give the county the exclusive right to offer water, wastewater and stormwater services. Private companies would need an agreement with council in order to offer these services in the county.
The draft law would not cover natural gas, electricity, any service authorized by the county, any service provided prior to the law’s enactment that did not change in volume or service area, or any water-related or solid waste system someone owns and operates for their own use. The law would let county officials fine anyone who runs an unauthorized utility up to $10,000 and order its removal.
Yanew said the county was investigating opportunities to use wastewater for irrigation and to convert waste to diesel, and this law would let council consider partnerships with companies who want to offer such services.
The law returns for third reading later this month.
Census results
Almost half of Sturgeon County residents work in St. Albert or Edmonton, a new survey suggests.
County council received a report on the 2019 census last week at committee of the whole.
The county approved this census in its 2019 budget and conducted it from April 15 to July 30, said county corporate services director Jesse Sopko. It was the first census done by the county since 2008. Data from the census will help inform county plans and could affect grants from the province.
The census found the county had 20,506 residents, or 11 more than it had in the 2016 federal census.
The census suggests many people who live in Sturgeon tend to stay there, with about 38 per cent of respondents having lived at their current address 11 or more years. Sopko noted some 21 per cent of those who had lived in their current home for less than two years had moved there from within the county, suggesting many people enjoy life in this region.
The survey found 37 per cent of residents with jobs worked in Edmonton or the Edmonton region. About 16 per cent worked in Sturgeon, while around 11 per cent laboured in St. Albert. The trades and business were the top two fields of employment.
Survey results are available at bit.ly/2DEayPE.
